THE North Richmond Jets are in a strong position after the first day of their round five Hawkesbury District Cricket Association 5th Grade match against Bligh Park at McMahons Park, Kurrajong, on Saturday.
The Jets batted through the first day after winning the toss to finish on an imposing 7/286 from 74 overs on a quick outfield in perfect conditions, but they did take advantage of several dropped catches from the Bligh Park fielders.
In his first appearance of the season, Tony 'Scorpio' Joyce opened the batting with Jebal 'Stiffy' Williams and they got through the first half an hour before Scorpio skied a catch and was out for eight.
Nick 'Austin' Powers was unlucky to be trapped lbw by a late swinging full toss shortly after and at 2/27, Northo was looking shaky, but a 57-run partnership between Stiffy and Brendan 'Jonty' Rhodes put the home team back on track before Stiffy missed a straight one and the ball hit the target to send him back for a well-made 51.
Stiffy's knock was his second fifty of the season and came from 23 overs with eight boundaries.
Harry 'Potter' Stever (19) and Mat 'Loz' Laurence (5) each shared handy partnerships with Jonty before falling to rash shots and when the captain prodded one back to the bowler straight after the second drinks break to be out for 53, just the fourth half century of his career, North Richmond was 6/152 and the match was again in the balance.
The fourth half century of Jonty's career included nine boundaries and took 32 overs.
With the Parkies back in the game, the Jets needed a strong contribution down the order and they got three with Peter 'Pirate' Richardson contributing an excellent 42 as he shared a 55-run stand with Rod 'Rocket' 'Quasimodo' 'The Count' Bayne to lift the score past the 200 mark and 'Hot Toddy' Boyle picked up where Pirate left off to add another 67 unbroken runs for the eighth wicket as Northo reached stumps at 7/286.
Hot Toddy will resume next week on 34 with five boundaries while Quasimodo has so far made a terrific 65, having hit seven boundaries in a 33-over stay to date.
With McMahons Park in perfect conditions for batting, the Jets will still have to bowl and field well to claim their fourth win of the season and stay in touch with ladder leader and flag favourite Wilberforce.
Other Jets in action around the district included Brock Gibson, who made 15 batting at No.11 to help RAAF reach 240 against Richmond in second grade and has bowled one over for one run in Richmond's reply of 3/38.
At Pitt Town, Seb Goldrick was out for 2 as his fourth grade team was bowled out for 135 by Bligh Park, and he has bowled three overs for 21 runs in the Parkies' reply of 6/105.
Glossodia's sixth grade team, is in desperate trouble against North Richmond, having been bowled out for 79 and fallen to 3/67 in their second innings after Northo declared at 5/208.
Steve Chase top scored with 25 in Glossy's first innings of 79 while Adam Braid made 17 and Daffy 3 and Cindy and Deano both got ducks.
With the ball, Cindy took 2/25, Daffy 1/31 and Chasey 0/54, while in the second innings, Cindy is 32 not out and Adam is 0no, while Daffy made 18 and Chasey a duck.
At the Hawkesbury Cricket Club, new Jets' under 18 squad member Andrew Cash took 4/66 with his spinners in fourth grade, but it was a long day as St George knocked up 9dec/337. The Hawks' second grade team had a nightmare as the Dragons smashed 7/410, with Daniel Langford bowling two overs for nine runs and taking a catch.
Last Modified on 15/11/2011 07:56